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Prior commitment Cubs vow not to overwork their phenom pitcherPosted: Thursday August 15, 2002 3:16 PM
It's been a lost season in Chicago, but there is one sliver of good news for the Cubs: Mark Prior won't win the National League Rookie of the Year Award. Good news? Prior was supposed to be the second coming of Kerry Wood, a young stud who would immediately anchor the Cubs' rotation. Anything less than a trophy case full of hardware after the season would be a disappointment, right? Wrong. Prior has pitched just as well, if not better, than his main competition for the award -- Los Angeles' Kazuhisa Ishii and Atlanta's Damian Moss. Entering Thursday afternoon's start against Houston, the Cubs' right-hander is 6-3 with a solid 3.26 ERA, and his average of 11.2 strikeouts per nine innings is better than those compiled by Curt Schilling (11.1), Pedro Martinez (11.0) and Roger Clemens (9.4). Prior has also shown himself to be a workhorse, at least by modern standards. He's pitched a minimum of six innings in 12 of his 15 starts and thrown 100 or more pitches 12 times. (Compare Prior to Greg Maddux, who has cracked the 90-pitch barrier just five times this season.) Against the Rockies on Aug. 4, Prior tossed the first complete game of his career, a gritty 136-pitch effort. "I've always prided myself, from high school and college, on closing out my games," Prior said afterward. "One day I hope to reach a level where, like Schilling and Johnson, I close out more games." That bulldog attitude is why the decision the Cubs made this week was a smart one: They're going to limit Prior's workload for the rest of the year, even if it costs him a shot at postseason awards. Counting the 51 innings Prior threw in the minor leagues early in the year, he has pitched 145 innings this season -- a heavy burden for a 21 year old in his first season as a professional. The plan is to let him throw about 40 more innings -- roughly six starts' worth -- and then shut him down for the year. Shouldn't the Cubs be thrilled to have a young pitcher so willing to pile up innings? Sure, one of the most common complaints about young pitchers is that they don't throw enough early in their careers and therefore aren't trained to go deep into games. As Chicago pitching coach Larry Rothschild said after Prior's 136-pitch performance against Colorado, "Starting pitchers, at some point, have to pitch a little tired to learn how to use their legs properly and to know how to keep everything together." But a little babying doesn't hurt either, especially for someone as tender as Prior. Inning totals should be built gradually from year to year so that a pitcher can slowly increase arm strength and durability. Prior threw 138 innings last year at USC, a total he'll surpass by about 50 this season. That's a sizable differential. Limiting Prior's workload may dampen his stat line and his award haul this year. It's also a step toward ensuring his long-term health. In a dismal season, it might be the best decision the Cubs have made.
Sports Illustrated staff writer Stephen Cannella covers the baseball beat for the magazine. Touching Base appears every week on CNNSI.com | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
